An Open in Two Parts, only one part of which is described below.

11/12/11 in China Grove, N.C. Hosted by the Jones Family / D.M. E.B. Anderson, Jr.

Party:

Expeditionary Force:
Grogan Icevein, Expedition Leader, Fighter 11 (Played by Kathryn Snead)
Luether Blackrock, High Priest of Clangeddin, Fighter 8/Cleric 9 (Played by Ashley Merritt)
Morett Ironface, Lieutenant, Fighter 9 (Played by Sean Guarino)
Yeuslin Goldfire, Sargeant, Fighter 6 (Played by Andrew Anderson?)
Slorgin Ironface, Sargeant, Fighter 6
4 Dwarves, Marines, Fighters 4 (Melee Squad)
6 Dwarves, Marines, Fighters 4 (Bowyer Squad) (Played by Sarah Lane?)

Vessel Crew:
Hoine Ironface, First Captain, Captain 8 (Played by David Chappell)
Baryun Icevein, Second Captain, Captain 7 (Played by Keith Nelson?)
Florin Hilltop, First Mate, Captain 6 (Played by David Jones
Uther Hilltop, Second Mate, Captain 5 (Played by Ryan Jones?)
6 Dwarves, Crew, Captains 3

Our story begins very long ago, when the high priestess of Moradin, Ygrill, had a vision of one of the nine flawless jewels of Moradin resting in a domed city - a ruin of the Ancient's. The King of the Wall Kingdom, Gamil the Fourth, put together a recovery party of his greatest warriors, and sent them out on a quest of the greatest importance to recover the gem and bring it back to the Kingdom.

Alex's very belated memories of certain events involving genies and undead:

The valiant, infinitely resourceful and in all ways superior party lead by
the magnificent dwarven King Felix headed through the sealed portal in
hopes of clearing the passage to a pool of Earth's Blood. The region beyond
was known to harbor Earth elementals. After a brief non-violent encounter with an
appalingly uncivilized Crystal Genie, the party prepared and put the brute
out of his misery with due diligence (surprise, brutal backstabs and elegant
violence served to drop the oaf in segments). The remaining crystal (not
earth) elementals were summarily desposed of and the pool of earth's blood
was secured.

That was when things took a turn for the worse. The outcast dwarves knew of
a subterannean river below, as it was their water source. They believed
that it might connect back to Eralla, but an expedition long ago never returned.
With Flight, Felix and Wrathbane descended to scout, and found a small
set of buildings, a dock and a river. Inside one of the buildings, unfortunately,
was the remains of the expedition and the wraithified beardless dwarf who
had put a premature end to their travels. The dauntless pair proved victorious,
but not before rightful heir to the throne of Lendore was greviously injured,
and his lifeforce drained. Fortunately, his boundless endurance proved stronger
than the vile assaults, and he recovered fully. The party then descended, boarded
a small vessel with an Earth's blood motor and, accompanied with an Engineer from
the outcast dwarves, I believe a sister or cousin of their current leader, and
also their envoy.

After some minor troubles and travails, the party nearly surprised some Erallan
laundresses. Politics shall ensue.

***

Alex's original stub summary:

Alex: Felix opens the door.
Edwin: roll a surprise die, I got a 5
Alex: 1
Edwin: That's bad, very very bad. You get swarmed by 5 wraiths, with 3 segments of surprise. You are on a scouting mission with only Wrathbane as backup.....
Alex: Eeeeps.

(4 level drains later, we kill 2, turn the rest and get Gates down to destroy them)

(A 19, 16, 15 and 8 on the saves later, Felix is lvl 10 again. The 8 made it exactly, w/double Chant. The new saves are a BITCH.)

Other than that, it went smoothly enough. Kagu-Arala and Arala are now known to have an underground river-link. It needs some maintenance, but is otherwise fine. The pool of Earth's Blood is there, and we have a functional on-board motor.

Loot was boring. Besides the motor, a dagger +1 and a wand of acid arrow w/12 charges.

Hendel landed a nasty double backstab against the Quartz-Genie.

Aral trained to 3, is 3.3k away from 4th.
Wrathbane trained to 7th cleric.
Everyone (except Aral) is about 40k total away from their next level (Wrathbane can forget about Cleric 8). Hendel a little less, but he tends to get less, Donald closer to 50k.

Balinor, 9th level Northerner fighter, 86 hp, played by Joel
Morty, 7th/6th human fighter/thief (bard), 74 hp, played by Jay
Bodkin, 5th level dwarven fighter, 49 hp, played by Katherine
Robynne, 5th level woodsman, 38 hp, played by Rhonda
Tarplin, 8th/5th elf druid/mage, 30 hp, played by Alan
Morhion, 3rd level Northerner Nevronian cleric, 28 hp, henchman of Balinor
Leo, 4th level human Nevronian cleric, 25 hp, played by David (Jay this time)

[Events of 25 July 2009, in Charlotte; Telvar dates December 2192 – June 2193]

As I think we had a pretty good review in the last summary, I’ll just jump right in here.

The party began by debating whether to continue hammering on the Khargish councilmembers that were likely to vote against peace. We had eliminated the top voter, the warleader of the Khargish nation (no mean feat, to our dismay at the time), and we wanted to nab at least one of the other three members that remained from this wereboar-infested Khargish village. As it turned out, not all of the votes were guaranteed to go against us, and there was actually a hierarchy.

First it had occurred to us that although our precautions would pretty much stop any divinatory magicks short of commune, the Kharg might well be incensed/worried enough to cast such a high level spell in order to determine what had happened to their warleader! A few well-chosen questions would clearly implicate the Duke, if not us directly. As such, we considered options about moving off the isle permanently.

Cassian, 9th level half-elf cleric of Phaulkon, played by Katherine
Sirse, Cassian's owl friend/familiar/favorite bird
Mel, Fighter level 6
Lilly, Cleric//Fighter level 1/4
Willis, Wizard level 4
Zephyr, Fighter level 3, played by Andy and Kyle

Buck, 6th level human fighter, Warder of Phaulkon, played by Andy and Kyle

Mordrick, 9th/12th level dwarf fighter/thief, NPC (played by Kyle this time)

[Events of June 12-14th, 2009, Charlotte, N.C.]

This adventure picks up after the Phaulkonian party, with assistance from the Dwarves, successfully attacked and defeated a Fire Giant Citadel on September 10, 2195, by use of the Amulet of the Fates. [Summarized in “The Only Good Fire Giant…” and “…Is A Dead Fire Giant.”] One of Mordrick’s least-favorite enemies, the evil dwarf, Prince Obmi, also had a cloning lab at the Citadel, which was destroyed. [Aside: Reynore had, much earlier, driven Obmi out of a Fire Giant citadel in 2159.]

Obmi, known as Kracklethump by the Fire Giants (because that was the noise people made when he came up behind them and snapped their spines), was not best pleased. As a result,
there were consequences to this attack upon the Fire Giant Citadel [“Ambush at Hoch-Och”].

Another Phaulkonian hero, Buck, had pursued other activities following the Fane of the Winds quest [“Alegra's Final Summary: The Fane of the Winds”]. These are summarized in an appropriately-titled summary, “Adventures of Buck: Tales of Disaster. “ In the final adventure, he was captured by the Ghoul King, a lich, in a city sewer system, and spent five years in servitude to the Ghoul King, killing good adventurers. When freed, the Ambush at Hoch-Och had already occurred, and Buck moved at top speed to join his comrades there, to help them as they planned their revenge…

The Front Line and Other Warriors:

Halacar 7th level halfling fighter, 80 hp (Joel)

Brother to the late Hhune, the diminuitive halfling's ability to survive impacts is unsurpassed (including, at one point, a vampire's blood drain). At two feet, eight inches tall, his ability to kill his opponent is less impressive. In his first attack with his short bow, Halacar broke his arrow, tripped, and fell into Brigling, taking them both off the cliff. Halacar undergoes frustrating dry spells in melee combat as well, where he wields a nasty falchion. Halacar's demeanor is eternally cheerful and completely unfazeable even by the sardonic Standish. His inner heart though, has a hidden chill to it. Halacar is loyal to his friends, but he has absolutely no scruples when it comes to dealing with his enemies. Halacar somehow has still failed to acquire a magical falchion, and sports a 1-1 record in the Arena. Don't ask him.

Standish 7th level half-orc fighter, 74 hp (Katherine)

Standish is a brute of a man, crude with words, and insufferably and outlandishly eloquent in the naming of his dogs. He is also the party's most devastating fighter, able to tear through lines of enemies in moments. Standing more than twice the size of his primary fighting partner, Standish wields a devastating magical bastard sword with a particular hatred for reptiles, as well as a giantslaying weapon used to great effect against a cloud giant. He is always accompanied by two dogs, his durable war dog Cromwell, and an revolving door of guard dogs (including Winston,
Weatherby, Hampton, Hinton, Percy, and the like). Standish is one of only three surviving original party members.

Halacar, 6th level halfling fighter, 65 hp, played by Joel
Standish, 6th level human fighter, 63 hp, played by Katherine
Browork, 6th level dwarven cleric, 41 hp, played by Joel
Brigling, 7th level halfling thief, 39 hp, played by Katherine
Campbell, 3rd level half-orc fighter, 30 hp, played by Rhonda
Tiberius K. Ollivander, 2nd level half- elven cleric/2nd level magic user, 10 hp, played by Alan

[Events of May 9, 2009, in Charlotte.]

The Wizard Mountain Party (Cornell/Charlotte edition) had not been played since New Years 2002-3, so needless to say, we were a bit rusty… as were our weapons…

A brief recap of the history of the Wizard Mountain campaign:

50 years ago, the town of Wizard Mountain was a smaller city surrounding a mountain fortress. Ruling the fortress was a powerful wizard who banned all but the most talented and powerful from being within his realm, which he blockaded with high walls. The wizard would occasionally burst into town and kill citizens simply to thin out the herd.

Eventually he angered forces outside of town. Adventuring parties attempted to penetrate into the mountain and defeat the wizard, but none returned. Finally, decades ago a party known as the Coral Star attempted to fight their way into the mountain to take it over from the wizard. On the last trip they seemingly succeeded, as the attacks stopped, although the party did not return.

In the chaos of one of these attacks, a dragon named Zog escaped from the markets, where dragons were frequently bought and sold, and took up shelter in the mountains, where it frequently preys on adventurers seeking fortune from the mountain.

Tribes of hobgoblins, goblins, and gnolls swarmed over areas of the mountains, establishing kingdoms within. The gnolls were known for wielding powerful firearms that could devastate even platemail armored adventurers.

Years later, the town of Wizard Mountain has become a giant city of a million souls, and a bustling market and trade in goods and wares. The adventuring party, The Larry Consortium (do not ask about Larry), is assembled from a ragtag group of wealth-seekers who choose to brave the mountains to gain profit, and perhaps to discover something of the fate of the Coral Star…

Felix, 10th level dwarven fighter, 100 hp, played by Alex
Rathbane, 7th/6th level dwarven fighter/cleric (Clangeddin), 54 hp, played by Katherine
Hendel, 9th level dwarven thief, 52 hp, played by Joel
Gates, 8th level dwarven cleric (Moradin), 52 hp, played by Aaron
Donald, 9th level coastlander mage, 48 hp, NPC
Aral, 2nd level Northerner woodsman, 27 hp, henchman of Felix

[Events of 31 Dec 08 – 01 Jan 09 in Manhattan; Telvar date: January 2190]

(Joel’s and Aaron’s first game in over a year, since Superstar! Written mostly on the train from New York to Rochester…)

The very first thing we did was update characters (eyesight, weight, height) and gained XP from the last two sessions, which was something on the order of 6000-8000 for the main characters and something small for the frequently dead Aral). Aral has enough to advance to 3rd level but because of game-world time constraints that soon arose, he remained at 2nd level for the adventure.

Felix's party, having rescued the dwarven kingdom of Arala from a flying, strength
and level draining, rogue, chimeric shadowy servant of the god of Rakshasas, is
attempting to find and reclaim the legendary ancient dwarven tunnel system to
provide a safe passage between Cromwell and Arala. The hope is that if the tun-
nel is reopened, trade between those nations will pick up, and dwarven expatriates
will return home, shoring up the desperately thin defences of the oldest seat of
dwarven power in the New World.

Balinor, 9th level Northerner fighter, 86 hp, played by Joel
Morty, 7th/6th human fighter/thief (bard), 74 hp, played by Jay
Bodkin, 5th level dwarven fighter, 49 hp, played by Katherine
Robynne, 5th level woodsman, 38 hp, played by Rhonda
Tarplin, 8th/5th elf druid/mage, 30 hp, played by Alan
Morhion, 3rd level Northerner Nevronian cleric, 28 hp, henchman of Balinor

Leo, 4th level human Nevronian cleric, 25 hp, played by David (Jay this time)

(Events of 3/15/08 in Charlotte; Game world November-December 2192)

When we last left our party, they had just escaped a nasty trap set for them by grotto beasts in a complex outside of Barnacus and Seapoint, in the Farmin Mountains near the lands of the Blue and the Gray, the massive bandit group on Lendore.

Party Roster:

Rangorn, 7th level half-elf woodsman, 65 hp, played by Joel
Star, 6th level human cleric, 37 hp, played by Kyle
Zippo, 3rd level dwarf fighter, 34 hp, henchman of Star
Chiaroscuro, 7th level human illusionist, 22 hp, played by Aaron
Lewis, 2nd level human ranger, 20 hp, henchman of Star (played by Alex)
Madupe Fadupe, 2nd/3rd level gnome fighter/thief, 19 hp, played by Katherine
Minerva Moonstone, 3rd level half-elf mage, 14 hp, played by Katherine
Alisan, 1st level half-elf cleric, 8 hp, henchman of Rangorn
Magic Lad, 1st level cleric/illusionist, 6 hp, henchman of Chiaro

It’s an adventure of fantastically varying proportions! See the adventures of the little guys (Dwarfstar) and then full on power of the party (Superstar!).

[Events at Alex’s house in Ithaca; Real World Sept. 29, 2007; Telvar Dates Feb. – June 2192]

It was decided that since the lower level people were close to achieving levels in many cases, the best chance to get additional power before attempting a big mission would be to run the party without its leaders through a series of mini-encounters (a trick used by the BMT party a few games back).

The party had recently decided to christen itself “Superstar” rather than the previous informal moniker “Strangorn” which had morphed into “Strangiaro” and was fast approaching having to become something like “Strangiarva” or “Strangiarvupe.” What all these names had in common is that they were significantly more than just Star. In keeping with this, we chose a name that was “above and beyond” Star—Superstar!

Hopefully this will be an alternative to those boring standard desktops. Images are from the first and fourth Telvar Opens.